<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>That Kind of Dangerous by EllerWrites</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29280912">That Kind of Dangerous</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllerWrites/pseuds/EllerWrites'>EllerWrites</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Chess, Gen, War</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 04:42:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>707</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29280912</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllerWrites/pseuds/EllerWrites</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Chess-Playing General &amp; Chess-Playing Prisoner of War</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Chocolate Box - Round 6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>That Kind of Dangerous</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadaras/gifts">Shadaras</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When they brought Grandmaster Artal it was, strictly speaking, not an arrest, but the guards did not seem to have been notified of that minor fact. They half-carried the shackled woman into her study and roughly shoved her onto her knees before she could stop them. Artal did not attempt to resist them.</p><p>The Grandmaster was surprisingly young, the General thought. Surprisingly fashionably dressed in a gold-embroidered robe that would not have been out of place at an imperial soiree: impressive, considering she had been detained at. Grandmaster Artal wore her auburn hair immaculately coiffed, in curls too symmetrical to be entirely natural, held in place by golden pins matching her robe, and, as the General surprisedly noticed, the ornaments on Artal's shoes. Only the chess player's eyes betrayed that this was not a lady of the court. So empty, like a doll, thought the general. No thoughts or emotions could be read. She didn't know if Artal even noticed what was going on around her.</p><p>"Why is she bound, you star-driven fools?" This could be a disaster when they needed Artal's active cooperation, not just her compliance. "Is she drugged, too?"</p><p>"We were warned the prisoner was dangerous, sir". The guard saw something in the general's face he didn't like and hastened to add, "No drugs. She was like that when we fetched her." Small mercies. It was true Grandmaster Artal was technically a hostage who had been captured during the last scuffle with her homeworld. But there were treaties in place, rights the prisoner had. Like moving around freely and slaughtering the empire’s finest minds… As long as she kept it to the chessboard, this time. Unless she was asked not to.</p><p>"Not that kind of dangerous," the General sighed. Was that the hint of a smile on Artal's face? She could not be sure. At least, thanks to the reaction, she now knew that the Grandmaster was not completely out of it. Time to move the conversation, if it could be called such, into more civilized channels.</p><p>"Well met, Grandmaster Artal." Seeing there was no immediate reply forthcoming, the General moved to help Artal to her feet, shuddering under the gaze of those empty eyes. Did Artal ever blink? "I regret the circumstances“. That was as much of an apology as she could afford to give. "Perhaps you already have an idea why I..." the general hesitated, as there was little point in speaking of an invitation, "sent for you. I know you're supposed to be playing in the tournament in Vakiut right now, but..."</p><p>“But you ran out of interesting opponents in this”, Artal let her gaze wander of the maps, the star charts, the vast collection of historical guns, “place”? She spoke without much inflection yet there was no mistaking the insult. “That’s fine. What’s your ranking?” </p><p>The General had the feeling it was not military ranks Artal was speaking of. The last time she had played chess had been decades ago, when a military career had not featured in her plans yet. Her father had tried to introduce her to the game, but for her the pieces had always remained marble blocks, pretty, ornate and ultimately empty. Like the young woman before her, she thought. She shook her head. Well, maybe it was time for those old pieces to be used again. Maybe Artal could finally fill them with life.</p><p>“War”, she told Artal. “I could only wish to run out of opponents”. On an impulse, she did not lead Artal to the tournament-grade board her aides had prepared. Instead, she dug out the old board and pieces from her desk. Upon the sight, the Grandmaster grinned. Definite interest now: her features came alive and the General was not sure she liked what she saw in her eyes. It did not matter. Needs must.</p><p>She had memorized a nice speech about honor, about fighting for peace, about duty, about the new tentative bonds between their people, about common enemies, and if all that failed, about the beauty and joy of a good fight. And yet, the General seemed to have forgotten those words. If there was going to be a war... Let there be war.</p><p>“I heard you can play this”.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>